BP today confirmed it has received approval from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to proceed with the Alligin development west of Shetland, which will target 20 million barrels of oil equivalent, and is expected to produce 12,000 barrels gross of oil equivalent a day at peak.

Alligin (BP 50 per cent operator; Shell 50 per cent) is located 140 kilometres west of Shetland, an archipelago in Scotland, in water depths close to 475 metres.

The development will consist of two wells, which will be tied-back into the existing Schiehallion and Loyal subsea infrastructure, utilising the processing and export facilities of the Glen Lyon floating, production storage, offload (FPSO) vessel.

Alligin will include new subsea infrastructure, consisting of gas lift and water injection pipeline systems, and a new controls umbilical. With the wells set to be drilled by the Deepsea Aberdeen rig, BP expects it to come on stream in 2020.

BP North Sea regional president Ariel Flores said that BP announced their intention to develop Alligin in April and six months later they have achieved regulatory approval.

“Alligin is part of our advantaged oil story, rescuing stranded reserves and tying them back into existing infrastructure. Developments like this have shorter project cycles, allowing us to bring on new production quicker. These subsea tiebacks complement our major start-ups and underpin BP’s commitment to the North Sea,” he said.

Brenda Wyllie, West of Shetland and Northern North Sea area manager at the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said this fast-tracked project will maximise economic recovery through utilising capacity in the Glen Lyon FPSO.

“It is a good example of the competitive advantage available to operators from the extensive infrastructure installed in the UKCS,” she said.

This is BP’s second North Sea development approval in the past two months. Vorlich, which targets 30 million barrels of oil equivalent, received regulatory approval in September.

More information on the project can be found here.